Sewing machine



Jain. 23, J. GOULDBOURN a-rm. 2,138,093

SEWING MACHINE Original Filed 001;. 23, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan; 1940- J. GOULDBOURN ET- AL 2,183,093

SEWING MACHINE Original Filed get. 23', 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIII IL Patented Jan. 23, 1940 SEWING MACHINE Joseph Gouldbourn and Thomas Aubrey Kestell, Leicester, England, assignors to United Shoe, Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Original application October 23, 1934, Serial No. 749,594. Divided and this application April 7, 1938, Serial No. 200,635. In Great Britain November 28, 1933 18 Claims.

This invention is concerned with improvements in or relating to sewing machines, and is hereinafter illustratively described in connection with a machine arranged to sew together parts (such for example as the end, side and bottom portions) of a suitcase, attache case or the like which extend at right angles to each other in a manner more fully described in inventors co-pending application for U. S. Letters Patent Serial No. 749,594, filed October 23, 1934, ofwhich the present application is a division.

In the United States Patent No. 1,695,718 there is disclosed a machine for this same purpose which is provided with a depending work-entering horn which has a tablet or roll freely mounted on its lower'end arranged to press the parts to be sewn together against mutually perpendicular faces of an external work support. While machines of this type have proved in practice to be very satisfactory for sewing at moderate speeds (for example at speeds but little over 300 stitches per minute), we have observed that the arrangement of the stitch forming and work feeding instrumentalities used in such a machine is not such as to allow of the machine being run with the desired efficiency and with freedom from substantial vibration at such high speeds (for example at speeds in the neighborhood of 1000 stitches, per minute) as might well be used in sewing along the edges of suitcases or like relativelylarge articles. This fact is largely due to the use in such a machine as aforesaid of relatively heavy unbalanced levers or other heavy members which are operated by relatively large cams, thus giving rise (if it is attempted to run the machine at high speeds) to such objectionable vibration as to make it difficult for the operator to control the work properly as it is fed through the machine and to reduce the efficiency of the stitch forming instrumentalities.

One of the several objects of the present invention is to provide a sewing machine, suitable for sewing together parts of suitcases, attache cases or the like, in which the stitch-forming and work feeding instrumentalities are so actuated and arranged that the machine may be run at relatively high speeds without the efficiency of the sewing operation being appreciably reduced .and without the control of the work by the operator being adversely affected to any appreciable extent by vibration in the machine.

In the sewing together of parts of cases or the like by machine. the feeding of the work through the machine will take place more smoothly and strain upon the work-feeding instrumentalities will be largely avoided if the work-feeding instrumentalities are such as to feed the work through the machine in a continuous uninterrupted manner as opposed to intermittently. When a continuous feed is imparted to the work it is usual to actuate the work support of the machine as one feeding unit, and one or more of the work piercing'instruments as another unit, so that the feed of the work is the result of the movements of both. In a machinefor'sewing bag corners, the work support is of much heavier construction than in a machine for sewing ordinary fiat work so that the parts moving with the work support present considerable inertia intended to be used in the machine of the present invention. Also in bag corner sewing machines heretofore constructed to provide acontinuous feed, the two mechanisms for actuating the stitch forming and work feeding devices in the line of feed have been mounted in part on a single adjusting bracket so that when the bracket is moved the feeding movements of the two mechanisms willbe changed simultaneously. This manner of mounting the feed mechanisms has necessitated a somewhat complicated construction and arrangement of the work feeding-and stitch forming devices, and has tended to crowd some of the other moving parts of the machine. Other objects of the present invention are, therefore, to provide a sewing machine inlwhich the parts moving with the stitch forming and work feeding devices are lighter in weight than'in previous machines and to provide a sewing machine in which the mechanisms for imparting a con tinuous feeding movement to the work are simple in construction and are so arranged that the other operating parts of the machine will not be crowded while at the same time a simultaneous adjustment of said mechanisms is possible while sewing. I I

A further object of the present invention is to provide a sewing machine, suitable for sewing together parts of suitcases, attache cases or the like, in which a curved hooked needle and a curved awl, movable in unison along thefeed line, cooperate with other instrumentalities to engaged by a thread lifter and by the beak of a rotating shuttle.

With these and other objects in view, a feature of the present invention which assists materially in reducing vibration in a curved hook needle sewing machine contemplates the provision of a work support movable to and fro along the line of feed which is lighter in weight than heretofore, and which is maintained in proper relation to the line of feed during feeding movements by means of parallel links comiected to the work support at points separated in the direction of feed. By this arrangement, the mass of moving parts connected to the work support is reduced to a minimum so that rapid movement of the parts during feed will not be troublesome.

Another feature of the present invention contemplates the provision in a sewing machine, the I stitch forming and work feeding devices of which comprise a work support movable to and fro along the line of feed, a curved hook needle and a curved awl, of an improved construction and arrangement of mechanisms for actuating the stitch forming and work feeding devices whereby a continuous feeding movement of the work is attained without the necessity of crowding or substantially altering the usual construction and arrangement of the other parts of the existing machines. In accordance with this feature, separate mechanisms are provided spaced apart in the direction of feed, and comprising connected levers and links supported in part by separate brackets, each of which is adjustable to vary the extent of the movements imparted by the mechanism supported thereby.

The machine of said illustrative embodiment is a lock-stitch machine having a thread lifter and shuttle, and is provided with a curved awl arranged always to be in alignment with the needle, and the timing of the needle and awl feeding movements is such that when the needle andawl have moved to a fully fed position close to the side of the shuttle, they are caused to dwell for a time so that the thread lifter and shuttle may better cooperate with the needle in a manner well understood.

Other features of the invention including novel and improved means for simultaneously adjusting the length of feeding movements imparted.

to the stitch forming and work feeding devices, novel and improved means for mounting the needleand awl so that their positions may be kept in alinement by simple and readily accessible adjustment means, and certain constructions, arrangements, and combinations of parts, the advantages of which will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the following description.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the central part of the sewing head of a machine illustrating the features of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a right hand side elevation of a part of the head;

Figure 3 is a front sectional view showing supporting means for certain instrumentalities of the machine;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic plan view showin mechanism for imparting work-feeding movement to instrumentalities of the machine; and

Figure 5 is a chart illustrating the relative times in a machine cycle at which certain instrumentalities cooperate to feed the work through the machine.

The machine of the said illustrative embodiment comprises a column I on the upper end of which is a head casting 3 which supports the sewing and other instrumentalities and devices, together with a main sewing shaft 4 and connected actuating mechanisms of the same construction and mode of operation, except as hereinafter indicated, as in the machine described in U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,056,670 of October 6, 1936. The stitch forming and work feeding instrumentalities and devices include a curved 10 hooked needle 5 and a curved awl 1 arranged to remain always in one and the same plane, and the needle is operated by a simple linkage, of which the various members are more fully described in the application referred to and in Patent No. 2,056,670. The machine of the present illustrative embodiment is provided in the manner hereinafter more fully described, with mechanism for imparting to the needle and awl to and fro movements in company along the line 20 of feed, i. e., from right to left of the machine to assist in feeding the work through the machine in a continuous manner. The machine is also provided with a needle guide 9 (in the present case also movable along the line of feed with the needle and awl), a looper l I and a thread hook l3 which cooperate to lay the under or needle thread in the hook orbarb of the needle at the appropriate time in the machine cycle,

a thread lifter l5 which serves to engage one 9 limb of the loop of needle thread taken up through the work by the needle to open the loop for the reception of the shuttle beak, a rotary shuttle, and a rotary thread take-up device 11, r all of which members are similar to those dis closed in the application above referred to, and. are operated by means substantially the same as thosedisclosed therein and in substantially the same time relation. Reference is directed to the Patent No. 2,056,670 and to said application for an understanding of such portions of the actuating mechanism for the stitch'forming devices as are not fully described hereinafter.

, The machine of the present illustrative embodiment is provided with an external work 1 support [9 (which is similar in general appearance to that referred to as 28 in the Patent No. 1,695,718 aforesaid), which work support has two relatively long work-supporting faces extending parallel to the line of feed and arranged at right angles to each other to support two work-pieces (e. g., the bottom or a side and an end portion of a case) which are to be sewn together at right angles as indicated in Figure 2. The said work support has a slot 2| formed 111.;55 each of its work-supporting faces, about midway of their length, to allow passage of the needle and awl through the work supported on said support, and this work support is also arranged to be moved to and fro along the feed line as in60 U. S. Patent No. 1,894,399 of January 17, 1933 (by means hereinafter described), to assist in feeding the work through the machine. The work feeding movements imparted to the needle and awl on the one hand and to the work sup-.165 port on the other, take place at the same speed and are of such extents as to overlap to some degree and cause the work to be fed through the machine in a continuous uninterrupted manner during the formation of the successiveflO stitches of a seam instead of being fed forward in a stepwise manner for the formation of each stitch of the seam. Such a work feeding arvrangement assists sewing to be carried out at high speeds in so far as vibration set up in the r75 machine by intermittent stopping and starting into motion. of the work between successive stitches is avoided.

The work support of the machine of Patent No, 1,894,399 in itself is heavy, and rapid work feeding movements of the supportcause vibration by itself. In order to reduce the weight of the work support !9 of the present invention, it is constructed in a manner described hereinafter, and to maintain the two parts of the work to be sewn together in proper position on the external work support, a work-entering horn or presser indicated at 23 is provided in the illustrative machine, which horn is generally similar in appearance to that referred to as l in Patent No. 1,695,718, but which carries, in place of the work-engaging tablet 43 described in that specification, a pair of small freely rotatable frusto conical rolls 25, 21 the rear sides, i. e., the workengaging sides of which are mutually perpen dicular and are maintained in parallel relation to the mutually perpendicular work-engaging faces of the external work support l9.

The said horn is constructed and arranged to operate substantially in the manner disclosed in the application of the present inventor Gouldbourn Serial No. 707,646, filed January 22, 1934, on which Patent No. 2,029,099 was granted January 28, 1936, and reference is directed to that patent for a full understanding of the details of construction and operation of the horn. It may be stated'here, however, that the horn is freely pivoted in a substantially vertical bearing so that it may be swung from side to side during the sewing as required by the particular nature of the work being sewn and is at certain times pressed, under relatively light spring pressure against the work, but the pressure of the horn on the work is increased when the external sup port is acting to feed the work (this increase of pressure being only relieved when the awl has commenced to pierce the work) by a cam actuated lever 29 (Figure 2) operated by a cam 3| on the shaft ti and connected by a rod 33 with a bell crank lever 35 carrying a trunnion at its forward end which encircles the lower end of a rod 31 and is arranged, when the lever 35 is swung by the cam 3| in a clockwise'direction, as seen in Figure 2, to abut against a shoulder formed on the rod 3'! and thus to lift the latter. A

spring 39 supported by nuts 4| threaded on the rod 31 bears at its upper end against the upper end of a sleeve 43 pivoted on an arm i5 project- .lng downwardly and rearwardly from a'horn parrier All.

The horn carrier is mounted for forward rocklng movement to press the rolls 25, 21 against the work on pins 49 so that the cam 3! through the spring 39 acts to cause the rolls to press harder on the work at the times indicated. It may also be stated that the rolls 25, 21 on the horn effectively support the work due to the action of the movng work on the horn, and to the fact that the horn can swing laterally somewhat about forwardly and rearwardly extending pivot pins 5|, in such a position along the line of feed determined by a spring pressed abutment indicated at 53 in Figure 2 which contacts with the horn bearing, that they engage directly those portions of the work through which the awl will strike in piercing the work, but that they may be urged along the feed line away from said position in either direction to facilitate the insertion of stitches quite close to upstanding end walls of a case or the like positioned to the left or- .to the right of the plane of the needle. 1

As hereinbefore stated, the external work support I9 is of lighter construction than in Patent No. 1,894,399 and is arranged .to be moved to and "5 fro along the feed line to assist the needle and awl in imparting a continuous unbroken feeding movement to the work and, for this purpose, the said support is pivoted at points separated in the direction of feed by means of vertical pins 55 which are freely rotatable in the forward ends of a pair of rearwardly extending and horizontally actuable' arms 51, the rear ends of which arms are formed as vertical sleeves surrounding the lower ends of a pair of vertical shafts 59 -15 spaced apart and positioned rearwardly of the opposite ends of the external work support. The right hand one of the said sleeves has an arm 3i projecting rearwardly from it, and thisarm, together with right hand arm 51 form a lever which is connected by means hereinafter described to the forward end of a horizontal cam lever 63 which is oscillated in a horizontal plane by the cam 3! on the main shaft 4 so that oscillation of this lever imparts a to and fro motion in a horizontal plane to the external work support [9 about the vertical shafts 59, the two'arms 51 projecting from the sleeves surrounding these shafts and by which the work support is carried, being equal in length and therefore constituting equal parallel links by which the work support is maintained in a parallel relation to the line of feed as it moves to and fro. The arms 51 are so long relatively to the small Work feeding movement imparted to the work support along the line of feed that substantially no forward or rearward movement of the work support takes place as it moves to and fro. The connection between the arm BI and the .cam lever 63 is adjustable to vary the extent of movement impartedto the work support by oscillation of the said cam lever, and comprises a pair of links 65 (Figures 2 and 4) mounted on the opposite ends of a vertical pivot pin 3? extending through the rear end of the arm and arranged at their opposite ends to embrace a longer link 69 connected at its rear end directly to the said cam lever 63. A further pair of links ll of the same length as the links 35 extend outside these links and are pivoted on a pin l3 which couples the link 69 to the 250 links 65. The opposite ends of this further pair of links H are pivoted to a horizontally adjustable bifurcated bracket l5 which substantially encloses all said links, this bracket being pivotally mounted on vertical studs T! (Figure 2) which -55 project outwardly therefrom and the distance between the axis of said studs and the pivots 19 by which the links H are coupled to it being the same as the length of the links H. When the cam lever 63 is rocked in each cycle of the ma- 0 chine, endwise movement of the link 69 causes swinging movement of the links H about their pivotal connection 19 with the bifurcated bracket (which latter is heldstationary) and therefore imparts an endwise movement to the links 35 (65 and therefore causes movement to be imparted to the work support along the'line of feed. The bifurcated bracket'iS has a hand lever 31secured to it which extends to within convenient reach of the operator at the right hand side of '70 the machine, and by moving this hand lever forwardly or rearwardly the bifurcated bracket can be adjusted about its supporting studs H to vary the direction of the are through which the Said links M will be swung by movement of the .75

"cam lever, and therefore to'vary the extent of the to and fro movements imparted to the work support. The arrangement is, however, such that whatever the position of the bifurcated bracket, movement of the cam lever 63 in a direction to move the work support towards the left will always move the pivot I3 between the longer link 69 and the pair of links 65 to a constant position, in which it lies coaxial with the studs "I! thus ensuring that, whatever the length of work feeding movement imparted to the work support, it will always reach identically the same .position at the left hand end of its movement,

thus giving the result that the awl may rise to pierce the work always through the same portion of the slots in the support and allowing relatively small slots to be used.

A needle segment 83 (see particularly Figure 3) to which the needle is clamped, a needle guide segment 85 which carries the needle guide and an awl segment 81 to which the awl is clamped are all arranged to be moved in company to and fro along the feed line by a reciprocating carrier on which they are carried. The said carrier comprises a sleeve member 89, mounted between its ends in a fixed bearing 9 I extending parallel to the feed line, and connected at its left hand end to cam mechanism hereinafter described by which it is given sliding movements to and fro parallel to its length. The needle segment 83 is formed on the right hand end of the sleeve member 89 and is connected to its actuating mechanism by a link which has spherical seatings atits opposite ends to fit over the spherical ends of pins secured respectively to the needle segment and to the needle actuating mechanism. The needle is therefore enabled to move to and fro along the feed line with the sleeve member. The segment 85 which carries the needle guide is mounted on the sleeve member and is secured against movement axially of the sleeve member by contact at its right hand side with the needle segment and by contact at its left hand side with the end of an external sleeve 93 fixedly mounted on the sleeve member 89, the needle guide segment having teeth 95 formed around its rear side which mesh with a gear sector 9'! mounted to rock about a pivot 99 positioned at a higher level than the sleeve member and rearwardly of it, the teeth on the needle guide segment being somewhat longer than the teeth on the gear sector so that the teeth on said sector mesh firmly with the teeth on the needle guide segment to rock the needle guide about the sleeve member in spite of the to and fro movements of the needle guide along the feed line effected by the sleeve member. The gear sector 91 is rocked to actuate the needle guide by a rod IUI connecting it to a cam lever I83 arranged to be actuated by a cam I05 on a vertical cam shaft I0'I driven through bevel gears I89 from the main shaft 4.

The awl segment 81 is formed on a rocking spindle III extending axially through the sleeve member 89, the right hand end of the spindle I I I extending to the right beyond the right hand end of the sleeve member and being slidably mounted in a fixed bearing II3 positioned to the right of the needle plane and the awl segment beingformed on said spindle close against the right hand side of the needle segment so that the awl clamped to the left hand face of the awl segment will lie in the same plane, considered forwardly and rearwardly of the machine, as the needle which is clamped to the right hand face of the needle segment. The left hand end vof the spindle III is threaded andpasses outwardly through an opening in the closed left hand end of the sleeve member 89. A sleeve nut H5 is threaded on the left hand end of the threaded portion of the spindle and bears at its right hand face against the left hand end of the sleeve member and a clamping collar I I1 threaded on the left hand end of the sleeve member has an inwardly directed shoulder which engages the left hand face of the sleeve nut and thus secures the sleeve nut (and therefore the spindle) to the sleeve member so that as the sleeve member moves to and fro along the feed line, the said spindle and, therefore, the awl segment will move with it, thus ensuring that the needle and awl remain always in the same plane. The sleeve nut I I5 may be rotated to cause an axial adjustment in the position of the spindle III to cause the awl to align accurately with the needle during the setting up of the machine and a lock nut H9 is provided upon the extreme left hand end of the threaded portion of the spindle to bind against the sleeve nut H5 and hold it normally against rotation on the spindle. The awl segment has projecting from its right hand face a horizontal stud I2I which extends into a hole formed in the lower end of a short bifurcated link I23 the limbs of which embrace and are pivoted to a rocking lever I25 forming part of the awl driving linkage. By this means rocking movements, in the proper time relation to the movements of the needle, are imparted to the awl and, as the awl is moved to and fro along the feed line with the needle, the stud I2I extending from the awl segment slides to and fro in the hole in the short bifurcated link I23 and thus maintains the connection between the awl segclamping collar I H on the left hand end of the sleeve member 89 has a groove formed around it in which is located a ring I21 having a pair of upwardly and downwardly extending pins I29 formed on it. These pins pass through the forward ends of short arms I3I (see particularly Figure 4) which project forwardly from a vertical sleeve surrounding a fixed vertical shaft I33 positioned behind the left hand end of the sleeve member. The said vertical sleeve also has a short arm I35 extending towards the left and the left hand 'end of this arm is pivoted on a vertical pin I3'I secured in the forward ends of a pair of parallel links I39 spaced one above the other, the rear ends of these links being pivoted to the rear ends of a further pair of links MI of the same length which extend forwardly somewhat to the left and are pivoted at their forward ends to a relatively fixed, but adjustable, bracket I43. The pin which connects the rear ends of the two pairs of links I39 and MI also has pivoted on it the right hand end of a link I45 which is connected at its left hand end to the forward end of a cam actuated lever I41 which is rocked to and fro in a horizontal plane by the cam I85 on the vertical cam shaft I01. Rocking movement of the cam actuated lever will cause the parallel links IM to rock about the pivots at their forward ends and thus to impart a rocking movement to the vertical sleeve aforesaid and thence to impart to and fro movements along the feed line to the sleeve member 89 by which the needle, needle guide and awl are carried. The relatively fixed but horizontally arm, I5I formed on the bracket I43 is coupled by a link I53 to the adjustable bracket l5 hereinbefore described which forms parts of the mechanism for imparting work-feeding movements to the external work support so that an adjustment of the bracket 115 will cause a similar adjustment, about its pins, of the adjustable bracket I43 forming part of the mechanism for imparting work-feeding movement to the needle and-awl and will, therefore, in a similar manner to that .the operator and to enable him to use either cause the length of the stitch either to be in,

creased or decreased will cause corresponding adjustments to be made simultaneously both in the extent of the work-feeding movements imparted to the external work support and in the extent of the work-feeding movements imparted to the needle and awl.

The shuttle I51, thread hook, and thread lifter of the illustrative machine occupy relatively fixed positions in the machine considered along the line of work feed, and it is necessary that the needle should reach such a position close to the right hand side of the shuttle that the-thread lifter may engage one limb of the loop of needle thread taken up through the work by the needle and open the loop so that the shuttle beak may enter it and lift it out of the needle barb, the lower portion of the thread lifter l5 being curved towards the shuttle so that when the needle reaches this position the left hand end of the thread lifter will be in a position to engage the right hand limb of the loop of needle thread and the shank of the thread lifter occupying such a position spaced away from the shuttle that it will not be fouled by the needle when the latter is moved as far over towards the right as possible.

The mechanism above described is so arranged as to cause the needle to reach the position just above indicated at the end of the work-feeding movement imparted to the needle and awl and the needle and awl are thereafter caused to dwell in that position for a suificient period of time to allow the loop of thread taken up through the work by the needle to be properly opened by the thread lifter and lifted out of the needle barb by the shuttle beak.

The mechanism, like that for imparting the work-feeding movements to the external work support, is alsoso arranged that the needle is always'moved to the said position at the left hand end of the work-feeding movements of the needle whatever he the length of the stitch being sewn (i. e., whatever the position to which the adjustable brackets I5 and M3 may be moved) thus ensuring proper cooperation of the needle with the thread lifter and shuttle at all times. The needle (and therefore also the awl) is also icaused, by the swinging"movements imparted to the links I39 and I to move to this position close to the shuttle when either of the hand levers BI and I55 are adjusted to cut out the workfe eding movements of the external support and the needle and awl altogether, thus ensuring that the stitch forming instrumentalities will cooperate properly at times, e. g., when sewing around an end corner of a suit or attache case, when'the movement of the work through the machine is affected entirely'by the operator.

The manner inwhich the work-feeding movements of the external work support and of the needle and awl cooperate, during each normal cycle of the machine, to cause the work to move continuously throughout the whole of the cycle will now be describedwith reference to the timing chart of Figure 5. In this figure, the several indicated ordinates represent degrees of rotation of the main shaft d of the machine and the abscissae are indicativeof thenature of the movements of the various instrumentalities throughout a complete machine cycle as follows:

The line AA represents the rising and falling movements of the needle.

The line BB represents-the rising and falling movements of the awl.

The line (3-0 represents the-work-feeding and return movements of the needle and awl.

The line D--D represents work-feeding and return movements of the external support.

The line E-E represents the action of the camactuated means for controlling the pressure of the horn on the work. i

The line X--X represents the position relatively to the points of the needle and awl of the upper work-supporting face of the external support; and I The line Y-Y represents the position relatively to the points of the needle and awl of the lower work-supporting face of the external support.

Assuming the stitch forming instrumentalities to have reached once more the positions they occupied when the machine was started from rest, the awl and needle will both be out of the Work and will be'nearing the end of their idle or return :movement to the right, as indicated by the short upwardly sloping portion to the left of the point a on the line CC. The external work support will be moving towards the left and will be approaching the left hand end of its work feeding-movement as indicated by the downwardly sloping portion to the left of the point a on'the line D'D and the horn will be positions by this time and having just commenced it having been fed away from the plane of. the

needle a distance substantiallyequalto half 'a' stitch length. During the nextfifteenorso degrees of rotation of the main shaft 4,"theawl will have completely pierced the work' (the needle point still remaining above'theworkX and the needle and awl will'still be moving together towards the left -'(this movement actually commenc "indicated by the downwardly sloping portion to ing after the main shaft has rotatedthrough about five degrees from its initial position). The movement of the needle and awl towards the left will, immediately the awl enters the work exercise a feeding action on the work additional to, and therefore assisting, that exercised at this time by the external work support l9, which latter continues to impart feeding movement to the work until the main shaft has rotated through about thirty degrees from its initial position as indicated by the point a on the line D-D. The needle and awl continue to move towards the left taking the work with them until the main shaft has rotated through about one hundred and ninety degrees from its initial position as indicated by the point I) on the line CC and the awl remains at least partly in the work substantially from the time when the main shaft has rotated through about ten degrees (as indicated by the point a on the line BB) until the main shaft has rotated through about one hundred and twenty degrees (as indicated by the point b on the line BB) when it retires downwardly from the work and the needle is caused almost immediately to descend into the hole pierced for it in the work by the awl. During part of the time that the awl remains penetrating substantially completely through the work (or more particularly during the time which elapses after the main shaft has rotated through about thirty degrees from its initial position and until it has rotated through about one hundred degrees from that position) the external work support is moved idly backward along the line of feed as indicated between the points a. and b on the line D-D. The pressure of the horn on the work being somewhat relieved at this time by its cam actuated mechanism, this relief actually commencing at the point indicated at a on the line E-E and the pressure being fully restored at the point indicated at b on this line. Thus, as the external work support is making its idle return movement, the work is being fed positively by the awl (which will be extending completely through it throughout this period which, since it is a stouter memher than the needle, is well able to move the work without bending. As before stated, the awl and needle continue to move towards the left until the main shaft has rotated through about one hundred and ninety degrees from its initial position, but immediately the external work support has reached the end of its idle return movement (1. e., when the main shaft has rotated through some one hundred degrees) it immediately starts to move once more towards the left (as the right of the point I) on the line DD) and the pressure of the horn on the: work immediately begins to increase (owing to its cam actuated mechanism commencing once more to press the horn harder against the work) so that from the time when the awl has retired from the work and the needle has entered it (i. e., when the main shaft has rotated through about one hundred and twenty degrees) until the time when the shaft has rotated through about one hundred and eighty-five degrees, the work is moved towards the left by the combined actions of the needle and the work support, the needle point actually being raised out of the work at this time as indicated by the point a on the line A-A. Thus the work support by assisting the needle to feed the work during this period, helps to relieve it from the strain to which it would be subjected if it alone had to effect the feeding of the work at this time. At the end of the movement of the needle and awl towards the left (i. e., when the main shaft has rotated through about one hundred and ninety degrees both the needle and awl will be out of engagement with the work and will occupy such a position along the feed line between the left hand end of the lower portion of the thread lifter and shuttle that the thread lifter can open the loop of thread taken up through the work by the needle and the shuttle beak can enter the loop to lift it over the shuttle in a manner well understood. The needle and awl pause in this position during approximately fiftyfive degrees of rotation of the main shaft (i. e., until the main shaft has rotated through about two hundred and forty-five degrees) and the thread lifter 45 actually engages the needle thread loop after the main shaft has rotated through about one hundred and ninety-five degrees and continues to open the loop until the shaft has rotated through about two hundred and thirty degrees, the shuttle beak actually entering the loop when the main shaft has rotated through about two hundred and fifteen degrees and its cam actuated mechanism, serves to continue the feeding of the work through the machine at uniform speed. After the main shaft of the machine has rotated through about two hundred and fortyfive degrees, the loop of thread taken up through the work by the needle will already have been removed from the needle barb by the shuttle and the needle and awl then commence to move. idly towards the right preparatory to making;

another movement towards the left during thenext cycle of the machine, as indicated by the upwardly sloping portion to the right of the point 0 on the line CC. This idle return movement continues evenly until the main shaft has completed the revolution necessary for the cycle now being considered and has rotated through about five degrees at the beginning of the next cycle.

As the needle and awl make their idle return movement the external work support continues to move evenly towards the left, taking the work with it, and this work feeding movement of the external work support continues until the cycle under consideration has been completed and until. the main shaft has rotated through about thirty degrees during the succeeding cycle.

Thus the needle and awl have jointly a feeding movement towards the left which commences soon after the start of each cycle and continues until after slightly more than half the cycle has been completed. The needle and awl then dwell for an appreciable time by the side of the shuttle until the loop of thread has been taken off the needle by the shuttle and then move idly towards the right throughout the remainder of the cycle.

The external support makes its idle return movement while the awl is extending into the work and commences to assist the needle in feeding the work as the needle enters the work and the awl is withdrawn from it, the support continuing to assist the needle to feed the work as the needle and awl continue to move towards the left and serving by itself to continue the feeding of the work after the needle and awl are brought to rest out of the work close against the side of the shuttle. The work feeding movements of the needle and awl and of the work support (which as may be gathered continue respectively throughout about one hundred and eighty-five and two hundred and ninety degrees of rotation Tim of the main shaft) takeplace at the'same'speed which is substantially uniform throughout their extents so that the work is fed, throughout the whole of each cycle, through the machine in a 1 continuous even manner, free from accelerations or retardations, there being no portion of the cycle in which both the needle andawl, considered as one unit, or the external work support, considered as another unit, are inoperative to-feed the work.

It will be understood that the particular work feeding arrangement above described, in which the needle and awl, while remaining in one and the same plane, move to and fro along the feed line in unison and dwell for a substantial period by the side of a relatively stationary shuttle and thread lifter and in which a moving work support also moves to and fro along the line of feed to cooperate with the needle and awl to cause the work to move through the machine in a continuous uninterrupted manner may, if a work support of a suitable nature be substituted for the work support 39 and a rising and falling presser foot moving to and fro with the work support is substituted for the work-engaging horn, above described, also be incorporated in a boot or shoe outscle stitching machine to operate to feed a shoe through the machine in a similar manner to that above described. The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated, and a machine embodying the several features of the invention having been specifically described, what is claimed is:

1. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming and work feeding devices including a curved hook needle and a work supportmovable to and fro along the line of feed, and means for maintaining the work support in proper relation to the line of feed during feeding movements comprising parallel links connected to the work support at points separated in the direction of feed.

2. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming and work feeding devices including a curved hook needle and a work support movable to and fro along the line of feed, means for maintaining the work support in proper relation to the line of feed during feeding movements comprising parallel links connected with the work support at points separated in the direction of feed, and means connected to one of the links for actuating the work support along the line of feed.

3. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming and work feeding devices comprising a work support movable to and fro along the line of feed, a curved hookneedle and a curved awl, separate mechanisms spaced apart in the direction of feed, and each comprising connected levers and links for actuating said devices to impart acontinuous feeding movement to the work, and separate brackets for supporting in part said mechanisms, each adjustable to vary the extent of the movements imparted by the mechanism supported thereby.

4. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming and work feeding devices com-'- ;prising a work support movable to and. fro along the line of feed, a curved hook needle and a curved awl, separate mechanisms spaced apart in the direction of feed, and each comprising connected levers and links for actuating said devices to impart a continuous feeding movement to the work, separate brackets for supporting in part said mechanisms, each adjustable to vary the extent of theqmovements imparted by the mechanism supported thereby, and means, for adjusting said brackets simultaneously.

5. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming and work feeding devices. comprising awork support movable to and fro along the line of feed, a curved hook needle and, a curved awl, separate mechanisms spaced apart in the direction of feed, and each comprising connected levers and links for actuating, said devices to impart a continuous feeding movement to the work, separate brackets for supporting in part said mechanisms, each adjustable to vary the extent of the movements imparted by the mechanism supported thereby, and a connection between the brackets for causing a movement of one bracket to be imparted to the other.

6. A sewing machine having, in combination,

stitch forming and work feedingdevices comprising -a work support movable to and fro along the line of feed, a curvedhook needle and a curved aWLseparate mechanisms spaced apart in the direction of feed for actuatingsaid devices to impart a continuous feeding movement to the work, and each comprising a cam actuated lever.

a swinging linkand links supported by the swinging link connecting the cam actuated lever and said devices, and separate pivotally mounted brackets on which theswinging links are pivotally mounted at oneend, said brackets being adjustable to vary the direction of the arcs through which the swinging links are moved to vary the extent of the feeding movements imparted by each mechanism. I

'7. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming and work feeding devices comprising a worksupport movable to andfro along the line of feed,- a curved hook needle and a curved awl, separate mechanisms spaced apart in the direction of feed for actuating said devices to impart a continuous feeding movement to the work, and each comprising a cam actuated lever, a swinging link and links supported by the swinging link connecting the cam actuated lever and said devices, separate pivotally mounted brackets on which the swinging links are pivotally mounted at one end, said bracketsbeing adjustable to vary the direction of the arcs-through which the swinging links are moved to vary the extent of the feeding movements imparted, by each mechanism, and a link connecting the brackets to cause both brackets to be adjusted simultaneously.

8. A sewing machine having, in combination,

- needle and a curved awl, a spindle on which the awl is mounted, a sleeve member surrounding the spindle constructed and arranged at one end to provide a mounting for the needle, a fixed the end of the sleeve member opposite to the needle mounting end for reciprocating. the sleeve member to impart feeding movements to the needle, and a connection between the spindle and the end of the sleeve member opposite the needle mounting end for holding the sleeve member and spindle in the same axial positions relatively to each other during feeding movements.

10. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a curved needle and a curved awl, a spindle on which the awl is mounted, a sleeve member surrounding the spindle constructed and arranged to provide a mounting for the needle, and means connected tothe spindle and sleeve member for adjusting axially the spindle relatively to the sleeve member to align the awl accurately with the needle.

11. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a curved needle and a curved awl, a spindle on which the awl is mounted, a sleeve member surrounding the spindle constructed and arranged to provide a mounting for the needle, a connection between the spindle and sleeve member for holding the spindle and sleeve member in the same axial positions relatively to each other while permitting relative 'rotation, and means comprising a threaded memand a curved awl, a spindle on which the awl is mounted, a sleeve member surrounding the spindle, constructed and arranged to provide a mounting for the needle, a connection between the spindle and sleeve member for holding the spindle and sleeve member in the same axial positions relatively to each other while permitting relative rotation, and means for actuating the spindle and sleeve member together to impart feeding movements to the needle and awl.

13. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a curved needle and a curved awl, a spindle on which the awl is mounted, a sleeve member surrounding the spindle constructed and arranged to provide a mounting for the needle, a feed lever, and a collar actuated by the feed lever to reciprocate the spindle and sleeve member while permitting rotation of said spindle and member.

14. A sewing machine having, in combination,

stitch forming and work feeding devices including a curved hook needle anda thread lifter for taking the loop of needle thread from the needle, and means for imparting work feeding movements to the needle arranged to cause the needle to dwell in its movement along the line of feed while the needle loop is being lifted.

15. A machine for sewing suitcases, bags and the like having, in combination, stitch forming devices including acurved hook needle, a curved 66 .awl pivotally mounted to move in the same plane,

a shuttle, and a thread lifter, a work support having work engaging surfaces inclined with relation to each other and arranged to support two outer surfaces of the work adjacent a corner at an inclination to and intersecting the needle path, a horn presser to engage the inside of the work, and mechanism for moving in the line of feed the needle and awl as one unit alternately with the work support as another unit to impart a continuous feeding movement to the work.

16. A machine for sewing suitcases, bags and the like having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a curved hook needle, a curved awl pivotally mounted to move in the same plane, a shuttle, and a thread lifter, a work support having work engaging surfaces inclined with relation to each other and arranged to support two outer surfaces of the work adjacent a corner at an inclination to and intersecting the needle path, a horn presser to engage the inside of the work, mechanisms for moving in the line of feed the needle and awl as one unit alternately with the work support as another unit and for causing the needle and awl to dwell in their feeding movement as the thread lifter acts to engage the thread carried by the needle.

1'7. A machine for sewing suitcases, bags and the like having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a curved hook needle, a curved awl pivotally mounted to move in the same plane, a shuttle, and a thread lifter, a work support having work engaging surfaces inclined with relation to each other and arranged to support two outer surfaces of the work adjacent a corner at an inclination to and intersecting the needle path, a horn presser to engage the inside of the work, mechanisms for moving in the line of feed the needle and awl as one unit alternately with the work support as another unit, to impart a continuous feeding movement to the work, and common means for changing the feeding movements of said mechanisms while maintaining the two units in the same relative positions as the needle and awl reach the limit of their feeding movement.

18. A machine for sewing suitcases, bags and the like having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a curved hook needle and a curved awl pivotally mounted to move in the same plane, a shuttle, and a thread lifter, a work support, a presser, mechanisms for moving in the line of feed the needle and awl as one unit alternately with the work support as another unit, to impart a continuous feeding movement to the work, and common means for changing the feeding movements of said mechanisms while maintaining the two units in the same relative positions as the needle and awl reach the limit of their feeding movement.

JOSEPH GOULDBOURN. THOMAS AUBREY KESTELL. 

